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It may well come as a big surprise to you how much newborns cry and the one skill you will need is how to prevent crying and calm your fussing baby. As D-Day approaches, you no doubt prepared yourself mentally for your baby’s birth. Like many women, you may have joined antenatal classes as the ultimate preparation for the big day. But few, if any of us, get to attend classes preparing us with what to expect or how to manage in the first few weeks. One sure way to calm your baby in the early days: Swaddling It may well come as a big surprise to you how much newborns cry and the one skill you will need is how to prevent crying and calm your fussing baby. Here are a few practical ideas to promote calm and help you survive the early days: Swaddling Baby Massage Baby Wearing – carrying your baby is a sling or pouch Getting your newborn to sleep regularly Soothing sounds, such as singing or white noise Sucking – a pacifier or a thumb work well for non-nutritive sucking Let’s look at one of the best methods of keeping your baby calm: swaddling “Swaddling is the best way to imitate the tight hug of the womb environment. It provides deep touch pressure and also prevents your baby’s little limbs from shooting out in a startle reflex – a common cause of night wakings in young babies” Baby Sense (Metz Press) The best way to contain your newborn’s early reflexes and startles is by swaddling your baby. Swaddling is an ancient method of baby wrapping. For some cultures, babies are wrapped for many months, rarely touching the ground as they are carried in these swaddled positions. Although this may be the extreme, it is important, if not vital that you swaddle your baby at least for sleep. Benefits of swaddling Sleep:The evidence is overwhelming that babies who are swaddled sleep longer and better. Swaddling inhibits the immature startle reflexes, which disrupts sleep. Calm:Deep pressure is calming which is why swaddled babies cry significantly less. Swaddling is thus an excellent solution for a colicky baby. Feeding:Difficult feeders, especially those who fight at the breast, tend to feed better with more coordinated sucks and swallows when they are swaddled. (Journal of Human Lactation, 2001) You need Use a 100% cotton blanket to prevent overheating and the associated risk of SIDS. Preferably use a blanket with some stretch, which will wrap snugly around your baby and allow for movement within the “wrap” If you are using a rectangular blanket, fold it into a triangle, alternately use a specially shaped swaddling blanket. How to swaddle with the Baby Sense Cuddlewrap Lie your baby with the neck on the long side of the triangle. Fold up the lower tip of the swaddling blanket. Wrap one corner of the triangle across your baby, securing her hand near her face so that she can self calm by sucking her hand if she needs to. Wrap the other arm in with the other corner of the triangle. Swaddle on the go The Baby Sense Cuddlegrow is a mixture of the perfect heart shape swaddle design of the Baby Sense Cuddlewrap and a conventional babygrow. This unique design allows for safe swaddling in a car seat and pram, providing a soothing cuddle while sleeping and traveling. Precautions Your baby can be swaddled for all day and night sleep. In the early days she will be sleeping most of the day and thus be swaddled a great deal of time. When your baby is awake and playing or being changed, unwrap her so that she gets to have a good kick and work her little hip joints. Do not use swaddling blankets that straight jacket your baby’s arms by her sides. Do not overheat your baby by using polyester or polar fleece swaddles. Do not wrap baby too tight - to check if you have got it right, you should be able to slide your hand down the front of the wrap when baby is completely swaddled. It is imperative that if the Cuddlegrow is used in an infant car seat it be used EXACTLY as recommended by the manufacturer - arms extending through the sides of the harness. Swaddling should happen over the harness i.e. after the baby has been buckled-up. Under no circumstances must the wrap cover baby’s mouth or face. The early days are as precious as they are difficult. Enjoy the highs and the precious moments of getting to know your baby and remember the tough time of the early days pass so quickly. By Meg Faure

In recent years research has indicated that babies who sleep on their tummies are more susceptible to cot death or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). For this reason you have probably heard, you should put your baby on its back or side to sleep. Unfortunately many babies do not sleep as well on their backs as they do on their tummies. Is there anything we can do to improve our baby’s sleep in this position? Swaddling babies is used in many cultures to help babies sleep better. But in the latter part of the 1900’s in Western culture, swaddling went out of fashion and few moms knew how to swaddle their babies. In 2002 research from the Washington University Medical School studied the effect of swaddling on sleep. The results indicate that swaddling a baby decreases the number of night wakings during deep sleep significantly. It also increases the length of REM sleep by helping babies return to sleep spontaneously, which limits the need for parents to intervene. The research concluded that as it is necessary to encourage babies to sleep on their backs, they should also be swaddled so that the back sleeping position does not negatively affect their sleep habits. How does swaddling help sleep? As your young baby falls asleep, he moves from a drowsy state, to a light sleep state to a deep sleep state. As your baby transitions between these sleep states, he will have a small jerk of his arms and legs. For young babies and light sleepers, this jerk is sufficient to wake them, which is why many mothers find that their babies are 15-minute cat-nappers. For these babies and those who wake repeatedly at night, swaddling is the solution. Swaddled snugly your baby’s little jerks whilst sleeping will not wake him as his arms move against resistance and he feels contained. Swaddling also helps to calm babies Use a swaddle made of a 100% cotton interlock as the stretchy fabric mimics the elastic feel of the womb. As your baby’s little jerks (caused by the primitive reflexes) push against the fabric the elastic quality pushes the arms back, providing the resistance that is so calming. The tight wrap of swaddling provides deep pressure, the most calming of the touch inputs. This is the reason that babies who are swaddled for significant periods of the day are calmer babies. Baby Sense has designed the Cuddlewrap, a swaddle that is perfect for a new baby, in shape and fabric. By Meg Faure

Non nutritive sucking (ie. Sucking without feeding) really helps to calm young babies. Some babies learn to suck on their own hands from a very early age, others prefer to suck a dummy. Both are excellent soothers for young babies. Do not stop your baby from sucking but guide your baby into a method you prefer. Thumb sucking Thumb sucking is an excellent self-calming strategy and is the first very clever, independent skill your baby learns. Your life will be easier if your baby can calm herself in this manner, especially at sleep time. The pro’s of thumb or hand sucking is that it is something your baby can use independently from very early on. The negative is that thumb suckers may have a higher risk of needing orthodontics at a later age. Whether thumb sucking will result in bucked teeth is dependent on your family’s predisposition and how long your child sucks her thumb. It is harder to get rid of a thumb sucking habit as you can’t conveniently ‘loose’ a thumb but if your baby is fussy, and sucking on her thumb really helps her to calm, worry about that later. Remember the issue is to get your baby to calm, so that sleep can follow. In the early days, the startle and moro reflexes move the arms outwards when young babies are distressed, making it very hard to self-calm while crying. Help your baby find her hands to suck on to self-calm, by swaddling her hands close to her face. Frequently this won’t be enough to sufficiently calm her and a dummy can also be used. Dummies On a sensory level, your baby needs to suck in order to be calm, and if she is not doing it herself (i.e. sucking her hands or thumb) a dummy is a very effective tool. Getting rid of the dummy is a bridge you can cross later. It will depend on your baby – some just reject the dummy naturally in the first year, others need to be rewarded for giving it up in the toddler years. Teaching your baby to use a dummy independently At around 6 to 9 months, many babies start to wake for mom to replace the dummy in the middle of the night. At this time the dummy is not something that is used independently. At about 8- 9 months old however you can expect your baby to be using the dummy at night independently. If your baby is waking you to put in the dummy at night, there are three steps to help your baby (older than 8 months) to use her dummy independently at night: In the first few days, keep putting in her dummy when she cries at night, but during the day never put the dummy in her mouth. Rather place the dummy into her hand so that she learns to pop it in herself in daylight hours. Once she has achieved daytime independence, do the same at night – never place it in her mouth, rather put the dummy into her hand or attach it to a sleep blanky and put that in her hand so she must do the final step of putting the dummy into her mouth on her own. When she has advanced to that stage (usually within a few days if she is older than 8 months), stop placing the dummy in her hand and guide her hand to the dummy in the dark. The next night put every dummy in the house into her cot giving her the maximum chance of finding it at night The message should be clear: if your baby self-soothes at night she will sleep well. Sucking is a wonderful self soothing method. Encourage either thumb or dummy sucking for a good night’s sleep. By Meg Faure

“Is your baby fussing an enormous amount or is he slow to warm up to all social settings? Let’s look at the problem of sensory defensiveness and some ways to deal with a fussy baby.” Mary’s little boy was not doing anything by the book. He did not give her the usual two week honeymoon period after he was born. He just screamed from day1. He would not latch and within three weeks was being bottle fed, even though breastfeeding was so important to Mary. He cried all day every day – not colic hour – it was colic twelve hours! Then everyone said the crying would stop at 3 months, but it just got worse. By the time William was 6 months old, he had had every test under the sun. Mary was exhausted and was sick of the screaming – no one had said it would be so bad and she just felt like a useless mom. William suffers from what we call sensory defensiveness. He has an aversion to touch, even when it is nurturing. He recoils from smells and screams whenever a door bangs or a dog barks. By understanding what is at the root of his fussiness, his mom will have a much easier time managing his behaviour. We all have a specific threshold for sensory information, just as we have a pain threshold. If your baby’s threshold is high, he will be able to deal with a lot of sensory input and be happy and interactive without becoming over stimulated. However if your baby’s threshold is low, he will have a very low tolerance for sensory input. Soft and gentle touch may then seem threatening and painful. If all touch is threatening, being hugged, stroked and massage will not be pleasurable. Breastfeeding will be an intolerable event because it is fraught with tactile experiences, being skin to skin. Likewise if your baby has a low tolerance for sounds, he will stir very easily and wake at the slightest sound. Furthermore, a door banging or an unexpected dog bark will over stimulate your baby, causing him to cry. Being sensitive to smells is particularly overwhelming because the world is so full of odours and we battle to predict or control them. For a baby who is oversensitive to smells, an uncle who smokes or the smell of cooking in the kitchen may be totally unnerving. If your baby is sensory defensive, you should: Approach him with firm deep touch as opposed to light fluttery touch Schedule baby massage for the morning rather later in the day when he is already over stimulated Swaddle him for breast feeds to help him be calmer for feed times Not wear any perfume for the first year as he will probably be sensitive to it Wear your baby in a sling or pouch to calm him Play white noise or quiet lulling music to block out the effect of sudden loud sounds Speak to him before touching him so he is able to predict that your touch is coming By Meg Faure

Why is my baby crying? Does my baby cry too much? What is normal? We know you want the answers to these questions, and here is some more info on “Crying through the ages”, covering crying from newborns to toddlers, talking about the REAL cause of colic and what to do about it and everything from hunger and separation anxiety to teething and temper tantrums. Newborn The newborn baby is typically much calmer and cries less than you would expect. Many parents are surprised that their baby does not scream at birth but rather makes quieter sounds and has a period of relative calm. Your hormones released in the birth process and the natural birth process itself results in a calm alert baby on the day he is born. Even after the initial 24 hours, the new baby is only really likely to cry when hungry, which once the milk comes in can be as often as two hourly or may be spread out to closer to four hours. It is important in the early days to feed your newborn on cue as this will not only settle him but also encourages your milk supply. The other time newborns cry is when being changed and bathed. Both changing and bathing result in feeling the cold air and new touch sensations, which can be disconcerting for the new baby. If a newborn (0-2 week old) cries a lot, it is important to have him checked by a doctor or clinic sister as this is typically a period of relative calm, which we call the honeymoon period. Most babies do not cry extensively during the early days. 2 weeks - 3 Months At around the two week mark, many babies become unsettled and begin to fuss more than during the honeymoon period. This is completely normal and in fact the ‘crying curve’ is well documented. This curve shows that babies begin to cry seemingly without reason at around 2 weeks old and by 12 weeks old this crying has almost entirely abated. This unexplained early baby crying peaks at about 6 weeks of age. Traditionally called colic, we now know that in fact this crying has nothing to do with the digestive system and remedies for tummy ailments make as much difference as sugar water. (St. James) Even if your baby tucks his legs up or kicks and screams for an extended period of time, you can rest assured that almost every crying baby of this age is healthy and normal. Colic is caused by over stimulation. Being alive in our busy sensory world can be overwhelming for many babies and this coupled with too little sleep will result in crying as your baby responds to the sensory input of the world and the little bubbles in his tummy with crying. The best ways to avert colic is to swaddle your baby and settle to him to sleep after only an hour of awake time. If your little one is very unsettled, do not worry about spoiling him at this age. Under four months of age babies do not have long term memory and so will not be ‘spoilt’ by being rocked or lulled to sleep. Try the baby sense cuddlewrap. 4 - 6 months The four to six month old is much less susceptible to overstimulation and therefore is more settled. But just as you think you are getting the hang of this parenting thing, you will find your baby become a little less predictable. Instead of remaining settled for a good three to four hours between feeds, many babies of this age begin to fuss and wake more frequently at night too. This relates to their new and growing nutritional needs. At this age you can choose to respond to the increased demand for nutrition with increasing the number and frequency or quantity of milk offered or you may choose to introduce solids. The latest research indicates the introduction of solids is safe and good for babies anytime between 4 and 6 months of age. Your 4-6 month old may still become crotchety if overtired or over stimulated. Watch your baby’s awake times (Baby Sense 2010) 6 - 12 months The older baby is a bundle of fun and laughs and will not spend much time crying. There are a few reasons that typically raise their heads: Illness – many babies get their first colds and illnesses at this age and an irritable baby with a fever is not much fun. Separation anxiety – as your baby develops object permanence and realizes he is separate from you, he will become increasingly irritable whenever you are out of site. A transition object or security blanket will help him to feel a little more secure. Nappy change time – all 8 month olds resist having their nappy changed and become very irritable. This is typical and is no reason to be concerned. Simply put the back position for nappy changes is way to passive and our little one will get very irate when placed on his back. Teething – typically your baby’s first tooth will emerge during this stage and you may have a day or two of irritability. Toddlers Your toddler has an opinion and mind of his own and generally this will impact on his mood. There are three main reasons for crying and tantrums A toddler may throw an almighty tantrum if he is overtired – we tend to overestimate our toddler’s ability to stay awake and be stimulated. The reality is that toddlers need at least one day sleep and an early bedtime. In addition, toddlers can only socialize for a limited period before becoming over stimulated and crying or throwing a tantrum. If your toddler feels misunderstood, you will have a tantrum on your hands. Toddlers understand more than you would believe and can process cognitively what they want to say or do. The problem is that it will be some time before your toddler can express himself adequately. When he feels like you do not understand him a tantrum may ensue. Some toddlers throw tantrums and cry simply to get their way. Again this is normal and is part of developing independence and autonomy. Finally, it is vital to realize that all babies are different. Some settled little ones cry very little and take each stage in their stride, while a sensitive baby cries for almost no reason and is a challenge for his parents. By Meg Faure

When your baby wakes for the fifth time and sleep seems an unreachable ask, you may find yourself wondering if you should just shut the door and ignore your little one in an attempt to extinguish his cries and let him ‘learn’ to fall asleep independently. The debate on whether ‘crying it out’ and other similar methods should be used with babies, and whether these techniques are in anyway damaging emotionally for babies, rages on. As with almost every other contentious parenting issue, you will readily find an equal amount of research showing that ‘controlled crying’ does no harm as you will find research showing long term emotional damage. So when your baby is crying and won’t settle to sleep or cries repeatedly at night, how quickly should you respond? Is there a principle that can be applied to allow your baby to learn the skill of self-soothing at night? Donald Winnicott, who examined the question of attachment (a foundation for emotional development), has answered this question brilliantly. In the first few months it is essential a mother responds as quickly as possible to her baby’s cries as this teaches the little one that his ‘voice’ is important and that he is recognized and important in his mother’s world. At this time the baby sees himself as an extension of mum and needs to be soothed by her or helped significantly to settle. If your little baby cries at night, respond with love, cuddles and a feed if appropriate. In these early days, the night feeds and night wakings can feel interminable but they do come to an end. If your baby is waking and crying more than three hourly at night, try to find out the root cause for the wakings as this is unusual. After five months of age, babies need to develop the skill of self-soothing. This does not happen overnight and takes time and love and energy from you as a mum. Winnocott proposed that the skill of self soothing develops in the context of graduated failures, in other words – you begin to ‘fail’ your baby in tiny increments by not getting to him as quickly as when he was a newborn. In fact, you do this unconsciously and in tiny gradual steps. In this way your baby learns he is separate from you and how to sooth himself when you take a second or two longer than he expected. This is not ‘controlled crying’ it is simply an unconscious process whereby you and your baby begin natural, healthy separation. The principle should be – respond quickly and consistently to your young baby when he cries. Allow your five-month or older baby short periods in which he can learn to self sooth to sleep. But overall, go with your gut. If it feels wrong – it is. By Meg Faure

Few sounds penetrate our ears in quite the way the sound of crying baby does! Just spend a little time on a flight near a bawling newborn or screeching toddler to feel the levels of tension and panic rise for all nearby. As a mother, you are preprogrammed to respond physically to your baby’s cry. You may find that your blood pressure rises, milk letdown can be induced and your heart beats a little faster when you hear your baby cry. New parents are relatively unprepared for the amount babies cry and the feelings it will induce. It may amaze you to know that on average young babies (under four months old) cry for three hours a day! That is an enormous amount of crying a parent has to contend with. But stats mean nothing until you are face with a fussing baby! In the stressed moment of dealing with your crying baby, you need a simple 3 step approach to stop the crying. Step #1 Try to figure out what is upsetting your baby by process of elimination establish whether your baby: Is hungry Needs to burp Is uncomfortable Has a wet nappy Is in uncomfortable clothing Is too hot or too cold Is sick Is running a fever Is in pain If you have ruled out these obvious causes of fussing and your baby is still not the happiest kid on the block, you need to move onto step two to calm your baby. Step #2 Try Soothing Sensory Strategies 1. Sensory awareness Be sensitive to your baby’s sensory world and his sensory load. When your newborn starts fussing, take notice of the smells and sights he is being subjected to. Longer than 10 minutes under a mobile which your baby can’t escape can be enough to over stimulate a newborn. Don’t wear overwhelming smells such as perfume or after shave in the early days Watch the sounds in the environment - your baby is sensitive to loud or unpredictable sounds Watch your baby’s world for too much stimulation. As the first year progresses, your baby will cope better with stimulation and it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking more stimulation is better. If your baby shows the following signs he may have had enough and need to be removed from the stimulus or have the stimulus removed from him: Rubbing eyes Sucking hands Tugging ears Looking away To prevent toddler melt down, watch the social situation you subject your toddler to carefully. Toddlers have a tough time socializing with each other because toddlers are unpredictable group. They fall on each other, touch each other with sticky hands and may for no reason bite or bang each other. As a rule of thumb limit social situations, such as an outing or a party to 1 hour per year of your toddler’s life. For example a one year old may only cope for one hour, a three year old for three hours. Make sure your toddler is well rested before birthday parties. Keep parties small and manageable 2. Sleep times An overtired baby of any age will battle with over stimulation and become fussy. To prevent colic, crying and chaos watch your baby’s ‘awake times’. (See Baby Sense for details for age appropriate awake times.) The newborn (0-12 weeks) can only be awake for very short times: 40 minutes for the first few weeks, stretching to 90 minutes by three months old. From three months onwards, your baby will start to develop a nice day sleep routine of their own. Encourage this routine as it will prevent crying due to over stimulation. Toddlers still need day sleeps and you need to ensure that your toddler has one good midday sleep if you want to avoid chaos! 3. Self calming At birth most babies’ self calming strategies are largely underdeveloped. One of the first tasks of the first three months becomes to develop self calming strategies. What do self calming strategies look like? Hands to mouth Looking away Looking at mom Grabbing security toy Sucking pacifier or hand Bringing hands to midline Give your baby space to develop self calming strategies by not popping his pacifier or your breast into his mouth just to calm him. Obviously if your baby is crying so much that he is unable to self calm, particularly newborns, you will need to help him find something to suck as sucking is a wonderful strategy for calming. Recognize self calming for what it is, don’t think that when your three month old is sucking his hands vigorously he is teething; he is probably self calming to cope with all the stimulation of the world. Teach your baby self calming strategies by wrapping him with his hands near his face when you swaddle him or holding his hands to his mouth. 4. Soothing touch Swaddling for the newborn and deep pressure as your baby gets older work well. We all know how good and calming a hug feels or how tranquil we feel after a deep massage. That deep touch is exactly what babies need. Swaddling is the best way to mimic the soothing pressure of the tight womb walls, to keep your newborn calm. As your baby gets older he may not like to be swaddled as tightly and may push his arms out. For sleep times you can continue to swaddle under the arms. Massage is wonderful for this age as they will lie still and benefit in many ways from the touch. For toddlers and even through to the teen years, nothing works as well as a big hug from mommy. When your toddler is feeling chaotic and about to throw a temper tantrum, give him a containing hug before the melt down begins. 5. Soothing movement Movement like the lulling movement of the womb world is calming for babies. For the newborn use a sling to carry your baby as your baby will be well supported and feel calmed by the deep pressure and calming rocking motion. If your older baby has a typically cranky time of day or is over stimulated, a good walk in a pouch, sling or pram works well. For toddlers a ride in a swing is a wonderful way to calm the chaos, especially at the end of the day when a late afternoon nap is out of the question. 6. Sounds Soothing sounds are an excellent way to calm a cranky baby and toddler. The newborn responds amazingly to the familiar sound of the womb. White noise, such as intrauterine sounds and ambient world sounds, masks the noise of the world and thus calms fractious babies. In recent research on the effect of white noise it was found that playing white noise at a volume similar to a babies’ cry decreased time spent crying by 30%. Older babies and toddlers love the sound of your voice and lullabies work wonderfully. Tapes with songs of children’s voice are also useful. 7. Slow down Sometimes in the panic of trying to calm a crying baby, we tend to try too many solutions at once. All the added stimuli are enough to make matters worse if your baby is already over stimulated. In addition to this you become flustered and at the end of the day don’t know what actually made the difference. Slow down and try one of the above mentioned strategies for 5 minutes before moving onto the next one. Step #3 Take care of yourself Caring for a colicky newborn, crying baby or chaotic toddler can take its toll on you. If you feel you are unable to go on or are not coping with the crying it is vital for your sake and that of your baby that you seek support. The two major risks of burning out are postnatal depression and shaken baby syndrome. Both are equally serious and have potentially long term devastating effects for your baby. If you have had enough of the crying and no strategies are working: Put your baby down and leave him safely in his room for a short period while you gather yourself together with deep breaths Call for the support of your mom, husband or an au pair for a few hours each week to give you time out Make sure you sleep when your baby does as sleep deprivation adds to the feelings of desperation. As tough as the early days of crying are, they do pass but when your baby fusses, you will find the three step strategy works well. Look for the reason for the fussing by going through the process of elimination, use sensory soothing strategies and take care of yourself.

When your baby is over stimulated and fussing you need to respond appropriately to limit the fussing and escalation to crying. Try these proven 7 S’s of calming: Colic and excessive crying can be very stressful for a parent. When your baby is over stimulated and fussing you need to respond appropriately to limit the fussing and escalation to crying. Try these proven 7 S’s of calming: S ensory environment – When your baby is fussing, develop ‘sensory eyes’ – examine the sensory environment for stimulus that may be bothering or over stimulating your baby. Remove him from or change the environment to help him calm down. S elf calming - Encourage your baby to develop self calming strategies such as hand sucking, holding her hands in the midline, humming or looking at you. Instead of intervening with a dummy or breast each time she fusses, help her find her hands. S waddling – Swaddling has been proven to calm young babies significantly and help them sleep well. Use a triangular shaped, 100% cotton baby blanket, which preferably has some stretch. The heart-shaped Baby Sense™ Cuddlewrap serves this purpose well; alternately fold a blanket into a triangle. S oothing touch - Baby massage is a fantastic tool for calming a baby and has all day benefits. Use slow movements with deep touch pressure. S ling – Movement is lulling for a baby – it mimics the environment he came from (the womb) and soothes him very effectively. S ounds for calming – certain sounds are very calming for your baby. White noise, as captured in the Baby Sense Womb to World CD/MP3 calms babies. Lullabies and nature music help with calming and sleep. S tick to one strategy for 5 minutes to allow your baby to adjust and calm.

For nine months your baby is nurtured in the ideal world of the womb. From this calm environment your baby emerges into a busy sensory world. The transition to the harsh world can to be made smoother by you. Here are some simple methods to make your baby’s transitions from womb to world a smooth one. At birth your baby is less mature than almost any other mammal. His brain is not capable of any conscious decision or movement but is an advanced sensory organ. In other words the brain takes in information from the senses and over time learns to deal with and make sense of the new sensory input. In young babies, the process of filtering out unnecessary or excessive sensory input is not yet mature. So your newborn will be easily over stimulated. To ease your baby into the world, ensure he does not become over stimulated. There are seven ‘S’s’ to follow to ensure a smooth and calm transition into the world for your newborn. The seven S’s for a calm baby: S ensory environment – You need to develop ‘sensory eyes’ – to read what may be causing overstimulation on a sensory level. Then remove your baby from the stimulus or change to a more calming environment S elf calming - Encourage self-calming From the youngest age try to give your baby the space to develop her own self calming tools, such as sucking her hands or clasping them together. Do not take her self-calming strategies away by putting her to the breast every time she sucks her hands or popping in the dummy when she is effectively self-calming. S waddling – Swaddling (wrapping in a stretchy blanket) has been proven to calm young babies significantly and help them sleep well. S oothing touch - Baby massage is a fantastic tool for calming a baby and has all day benefits. S ling – Movement is lulling for your baby – it mimics the womb environment she came from and soothes her very effectively. S ounds for calming – certain sounds are very calming for your baby. White noise, such as the sounds of waves or radio static absorbs other sounds and calms babies. Lullabies and nature music help with calming and sleep. S tick to one strategy for 5 minutes. The last thing an over stimulated baby needs is a lot of quick changes and each intervention you use is a stimulus for a short time, until your baby gets used to it. So try any of the above strategies for at least 5 minutes before trying the next. Conclusion By following the Baby Sense principles for a calm baby and bearing in mind the sensory world, the early stage of mothering will be a happy one with memories of happiness and new experiences. All the best with this precious journey By Meg Faure